Feb. 14, 2007:
From 1-800-flowers.com: I love you, babe, and hope that you have fun. One of these years, I will be able to spend Valentine’s Day with you. Hopefully, next time. I love you bunches

June 24, 2006 to Caleb:
Happy birthday to my awesome boyfriend with love. May this be the best missed birthday because I was here to miss it with you! And I plan to be there for all the rest. I love you!
Card: “For my husband, for all the times you reached back to hold my hand, let me have the last bite of cake, told me I looked beautiful first thing in the morning, rented the movie I wanted to see, sat and listened patiently to the details of my hectic day, and for all the happiness that you bring to my world — I love you. Happy Birthday” Now you can buy me alcohol. Thank you so much for giving 100%. I think the card says the rest. Do you feel any older yet? I love you! – your wifey Jess – xoxo

Feb. 2007 to Caleb:
Hey Babe – I didn’t really want to write on the pretty card, so I got an envelope to go with it. Out of the 250 I saw… I liked this one best. I love you super bunches and can’t wait to see you again. I couldn’t fit everything in this box, so there will be another one on its way real soon. Sorry this one is late. And about your new panties… we got matching ones… how cute! I love you and am almost out of writing space. Hope to hear from you soon.

May 12, 2007:
Dear Jessica, haha, I always wanted to write that, but anyway, here it is the last one. If you don’t get this, I will just worry about getting a place when I get home. I figured it was all or nothing this time. Usually, I just send you my ID and a short note, but this time, I am sending it all. All my stuff that will fit in an envelope anyway.

Random stuff I got or found [a tow receipt from Apr. 28, 2006, for $85; two receipts from Le Comptoir de Maitre Kanter in Toulon (a Ballantine whiskey and tarte flambé); 50 Saudi riyals; 1/2 Bahraini dinar; ATM receipt for BD 100 withdrawal; Jameel Al Saegh Tuxedo Tailoring card; an MWR receipt from Mar. 27, 2007, for $5.55 (Bac Dbl Ch Bur combo w/Lg Frie); a liberty information card with phone numbers and off-limits venues for Bahrain; a beard/hair chit (no shave); a black Kenzo boot tongue, size 41; train tickets for a day trip between Toulon and Marseille for €19.50; and the contact information from a poster for La Mafia Provençale.]

Along with the very first copy I made of my ID that I lost and just found again. It’s either you get it or you were never meant to have it and it’s all gone. By the way, it’s the 6th of May this time. This will go to the post office tomorrow and will leave the ship about a week or so after that. I really hope you get this because I have trouble sleeping at night knowing that it is my fault you don’t have a home because I didn’t know they would want my ID, which is bullshit if you show them the original.

Anyway, I am going to seal this and send it off, hoping with all my heart that you get it soon. I love you and miss you terribly.
P.S. I sent you a story. I hope you like it. [For my eyes only!]
P.S.S. The MV [stacked] is my broken heart that will stay that way until you are back in my arms again.

To Caleb:
Here’s your first postcard. Everyone here says hello. I miss you so much. Here’s box #1. The 2nd one will be Valentine’s Day. I think I’m supposed to say something sexy or inspirational here, but I’ve never been good at that, so I will just tell you I love you and am looking forward to what I get in return. See you soon. Tell the guys I say hi.

I know this card should have made it to you sooner, but every time I go to the post office… it’s packed. I could tell you about my visit in Memphis when this guy and his cousin were left at the gas station waiting for another ride or how I got a picture of the same bridge, but not with the same effect. And then I will tell you how much I love you and can’t wait till I can hold you again. Or maybe one day how we can share stories of us in Memphis together. I love you.

Jan. 1, 2008:
Happy New Year babe. I love your crazy ass!!

March 2008 to Caleb:
For my husband at Easter. I love you, not because you’re perfect… but because you’re so perfect for me. Love and kisses and a great big hug. I love you so much and miss you all the time. Thinking of you.

April 19, 2008:
Well, I finally went online, and Sparky can fly with Delta, but it will cost 100 dollars as a carry-on, and his kennel must [be] the size of a carry-on, and you can’t have any other carry-on baggage. But please call the vet and ask them what you should do to take Sparky with you to Texas. Now, as for coming back to Virginia, I don’t know, but if you go to http://www.unitedairlines.com, you should be able to find out. But here is some more info from Delta for you, just some things they want you to do. I would have this, just in case. And don’t worry about the money, just use my card at the airport to pay the fees. I love you and hope that you get this.

May 2008 to Caleb:
From: Wonderful Wife, To: Super Sexy Sailor. Sudoku inside with answer sheet, try not to cheat.
“You make my tail wag so much… my butt hurts.” I had to get this card on behalf of me and Sparky. I love you so much. And that’s why I bought a card and put these pics in it. I hope you like them as much as I do. Did you find your digital camera? I didn’t. I hope you are taking some pics for the both of us. Love you and can’t wait for you to make my butt hurt… if you know what I mean, lol. xoxo

June 17, 2008:
Well, here I am, stuck in steering again, and I have paper this time. So far, I have been on [numerous] boardings. We drop the boats and go over to dhows (small fishing boats) and send the VBSS team onboard. I wear 45 pounds of body armor, cami’s, a nine mm, 45 rounds, and a Kevlar helmet. It is so scary. Every time I go out, I run the risk of being shot, and the whole time, I think of you and how much I miss you. We had to patch 7 holes in the 11M RHIB, which is the boat I am on, but we did dump 4000 kilos of hash into the ocean.

I hate the constant stress. It never ends because, after boardings I have to go back to work. I am the only person in A-Div that doesn’t stand watch. So now the ship can’t send e-mail out because of a serious security violation. One of the people that we brought with us took a picture of themself and posted it on Facebook. It wouldn’t have been bad, but he took the picture in a top-secret space with the ship’s charts right behind him. So anyone that looked at the picture would know exactly where we are.

This deployment sucks so much worse than the last one because we don’t know what is happening until it happens. We were supposed to pull into Bahrain on the 25th, then it got canceled, then brought back, then moved twice, and now we don’t know again. But now we can receive emails, just not send them. I really hope we get email back soon. I feel so bad. It sucked so bad when you couldn’t email me and now I can’t email you. They don’t even know if we will ever get email back.

So, for now, I will be writing you super long letters and sending them to you that way we can stay in contact. I just hope that I can find an envelope otherwise I will have to send you postcards until I can get some. I would write you a super long, sexy story right now, but it is hard to focus in steering with a bunch of guys around you. So I was meaning to ask you how Sparky is doing around other dogs (i.e., Peanut)? Well, I love you babe, and hope to hear from you soon. I can’t wait for that story. I miss you.
Your super loving husband, Caleb (super in love with you) Aldridge
[Enclosed were 2 lottery tickets, each winning $1]

June 24, 2008 to Caleb:
The card: “Happy Birthday to someone with good taste from someone who tastes good. Uh, I don’t get it.” I do, the words that said it all. I love you, and you are the best man and husband and soon father [not pregnant] any woman could hope for. I look forward to spending the rest of your days with me. The ink is melting. It is so freakin hot. I love you!
A note: Thought you might like to wear something [temporary tattoos] to remind you of me… besides your watch. I love you!

Aug. 30, 2008:
From The Sunflower Florist: Hey Babe, I wish I could be there instead of sending you stuff. I will be able to celebrate your birthday with you one of these days. I love you and can’t wait to see you.

2011:
[A gift from Ghirardelli] I love you and hope you taste at least one of them before Piggy steals them.

End of 2011:
[In a handmade envelope] So I had a pretty good day today. I got to hold your hand, which made me so happy. I am glad you liked the waffles. I will have to come up with some more ideas for fillings and toppings. Maybe I will try to get my mom’s waffle recipe. I hope there is a park in California like Mt. Trashmore so we can take the dogs there. I really want to start taking the dogs out for more exercise. Maybe that is why Sparky is so angry, he doesn’t get enough exercise.

I hate it when I get sidetracked while trying to write you. Like right now, I just thought about how I should have you sell back the Rules for Writers book when you sell the cameras. I can’t wait for the email that says the panniers are in the mail. I think it will be an awesome experience [riding from Jacksonville, FL to San Diego, CA] that I want to share with you, but at the same time, I don’t want to take away from it by being there. I hope you understand that.

It makes sense in my mind, like so many other things that you tell me make no sense at all. I have been thinking about getting that video camera for you so you can video yourself riding into the sunset or something. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures and hearing the stories, but am even more excited about when we can do it together. One day, we can ride from California to Washington, to Maine to Florida, and back to California. I think it would be fun, then we could bike across Europe.

I have been doing some thinking, and we should not only get our bucket lists together but should get prices for them. It would be easier to plan for each item if we had a price range to save towards. But anywhosits, I suppose I should stop writing for this year. I love you and will write more next year.